For once I don't have anything snarky to say on the following topic, because it was genuinely exciting. (don't think I've gone soft, though) I was a dresser at the Duckie Brown show in the tents last Friday, and while I've been backstage at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week before to do press-type things, actually being involved in the production, under the big top, was such a great experience.

And for those of you who've never been inside the circus, know that the portable johns available are probably nicer than your bathroom at home. Not my bathroom at home, though - there are limits to portable luxury.

One of my little dressing stations:

Lovely fellow dressers. We got there at 10:30 and then just kind of stood around lint-rolling for 3 hours. Not sure why they had us show up so early... The dressing room:I instructed Blue Steel and they said they only knew Magnum: There was lots of milling, but not much working:The ponies at the gate:praying the free gift at the end of the show isn't the pom pom hat:

It wasn't - it was actually these pretty fabulous Duckie Brown for Florsheim wingtip ankle boots. From the looks of things in the dressing room, though, I hope the boys can trade them on the street for Creatine. Or burgers.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Mr. T wants you to be somebody, unless your name is Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, or Gloria Vanderbilt. He also wants you to wear clothes, because otherwise you'll get arrested. Very wise.

I know what you're thinking - WHAT the hell is Mr. T, anyway? Is he a nutjob? An alien? Dutch? Allow me (um...Wikipedia, really) to put dispel these nasty rumors:

-Real name is Laurence Tureaud, from Chicago-Grew up in housing project with 11 siblings-Was a military policeman-Became a bouncer, where "His wearing of gold neck chains and other jewelry was the result of customers losing the items, leaving them behind at the bar/night club after a fight, or being removed from the place. A customer would not have to re-enter or even have to see anyone else again if Mr. T wore their jewelry as he stood out front."-Eventually the chains took up to an hour to put on.-The mohawk was inspired by a Mandinka warrior in a National Geographic-The raps in Mr. T's video "Be Somebody...Or Be Somebody's Fool" were written by IceT...including "Treat Your Mother Right"-In 1995, he was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma.-In 2005, Mr. T stated that he would never wear his chains again, in response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (though he's been spotted with a few chains since)-He breeds horses

Thursday, February 5, 2009

I was just perusing Jezebel, and an image they posted of Donatella Versace just, like, slapped me in the face with her resemblance to Ron Perlman in the Beauty and the Beast TV show, in the late 80s. Lookit:

They must have the same special fx makeup artist. Further reserach into darling Dona revealed the internet feels she's been separated at birth a few times...

Monday, February 2, 2009

We accidentally threw ourselves a little Super Bowl party last night. "Accidentally" meaning the attendance had a balloon effect, and suddenly there were 40 people trying to share 4 pairs of 3D glasses. No worries, we love our friends, and their friends, and their friends...and I always overmake chili anyway.

The game was really good (I hear, anyway...it was tough to get near the tv), and Springsteen's ballplant was even better, but I have to say the highlight of the entire event was Alison and Mark's attempt at making the recently famed "Bacon Explosion." Is this the first official food meme? They very gamely photographed the process:

First the bacon weave:Then you squish a bunch of sausage on top of it, plus more bacon crumbles:

The sausage looked tense:

The you roll it on up:

The little bundle of joy:

Mark demonstrates the lid of the incubator:

unsafe practices:

Tada!! She's born:

Now imagine wrapping that thing up and carrying it to another burrough on the back of a motorcycle. It needs a sidecar!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Scoop 1: Rosie (Lucy Stoner?) was kind enough to share a photo from the Museum of Natural History last week, where she fell upon a fashion shoot amongst the stuffed animals. I appreciate things like this, i.e. the intersection of 17 year-olds in 35K wedding dresses and artist's liberal recreation of paleo-critters, born from the discovery of a thigh bone in Minnesota. Ahh Spring fashion issues.

It's kind of pointless to guess what magazine this is for (of course I must anyway: Elle?), but the museum can't come cheap ($15 museum admission, but if you wanna see the butterflies it's $24 more?!), and who's got money to throw around these days? Domino folded yesterday, which is the last place I worked before I became a moderately successful sell-out. Moderately successful meaning I can pay my bills comfortably for the first time...um...ever. I'm going to think of 2008 as the year I learned how to dodge bullets. And moved to Park Slope. And you know what? I'm ok with that. Yuppies live gooood. They buy things like Scoops 2 through 7:

And who doesn't need 6 scoops? I know what you're thinking - the only scoop you really need is for cat litter, right? Well you know what? Stay in Bushwick.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

First, a moment of totally rad silence, in observance of another beautiful Freddie Mercury Friday.

...

...

Moving on. Over a slimy green meal at Kenka Wednesday night, Gabe suggested I might have missed the mark on my compendium of the pretty young things of fashion design. Apparently I don't know everything. Weird.

There was a notable lack of male representation, further confirming our suspicions that Gabe doesn't have teh geigh. Check out these total babes:

Abigail Lorick:

Truus and Riet Spijkers of Spijkers and Spijkers:

Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai of Vena Cava (the only truly grievous omissions from my original list):

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I love how Brian Williams et al are talking about indie designers and what the President's children are wearing during MSNBC inaugural coverage, and how hilariously stunned they are to find themselves doing so.

I, the entire fashion world, and apparently Brian Williams are all very eagerly anticipating what the First Fam (eh...Lady, really) will be wearing tonight, so as a teaser let's look back at The Inaugural Ball Gowns from the last 5 decades.

Jackie Kennedy, 1961:

Lady Bird Johnson, 1965:

Pat Nixon, 1969:

Rosalynn Carter, 1977:

(I believe this was taken after the ball. She looks positively beat.)

Nancy Reagan, 1981:

(Her gown, by James Galanos, was reportedly very expensive. What a rockstar.)

OMG, 35 minutes til the inauguration! Don't worry, I won't waste your time freaking out, as I'm sure you're busy with your own freak-out, but here's a lil fashion update I learned while getting teary up on the treadmill this morning:

Michelle's wearing Isabel Toledo this morning! A fellow FIT alum. It's kind of too yellow and too sparkly for my taste, but she still looks beautiful, and I'm sooooo curious to find what she'll wear to the ball.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

I can't say what it is exactly, but I love the ethereal glow of a good-looking redhead. Toss it in the "Different is Beautiful" file, along with grey eyes, aquiline noses and high, transparent foreheads (on the ladies, anyway). I dyed my hair red for years, albeit with limited success - it usually faded to a rosy taupe in a couple weeks. Yeah. All the ladies with a Tori Amos phase, holler back.

Fortunately, my advancing years have taught me the two things I was doing wrong: